Friday, March 20, 2015

Smartphones are expensive — you wouldn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on one
and end up with a scratched screen. Many people still buy screen
protectors to protect those screens, but they’ve become less necessary.
Screen protectors were once practically mandatory, but advances in
glass and coatings have made them unnecessary for most people. You don’t
have to buy a screen protector when you get a new phone.

Corning’s Gorilla Glass

There was a time when screen protectors were a good idea, but modern
devices have more advanced screen protection built-in. Most smartphones
you’ll buy use Corning’s Gorilla Glass. This is a toughened, hard glass
with high scratch resistance. Corning has actually been releasing new
versions of Gorilla Glass over the years — Gorilla Glass 3 was
introduced in 2013 and Corning boasted it was up to 40% more scratch
resistant than Gorilla Glass 2.
Your smartphone’s screen is already fairly scratch resistant —
assuming you have a recent smartphone and not one that is five years
old.
If you’re already using a screen protector, you may see a scratch or
two on your screen protector and think it’s doing a good job. This isn’t
necessarily true — materials that would scratch a plastic screen
protector won’t necessarily scratch your phone’s glass screen.

Even the keys in your pocket shouldn’t be able to scratch a modern
Gorilla Glass display. Gorilla Glass is harder than the metal used in
keys, coins, and other common household metal items. Take keys or even a
household knife to a modern smartphone’s Gorilla Glass display and you
shouldn’t see any scratches — you’ll find plenty of videos of people attempting to scratch their screens with knives on YouTube.

Disadvantages

Screen protectors change the experience of using your smartphone’s
touch screen — they may seem softer or more grippy. Placing another
sheet of plastic between you and the screen will change how your
device’s screen looks, especially if the screen protector discolors over
time. A screen protector may pick up unsightly scratches that wouldn’t
have actually scratched your smartphone’s screen.
This is all assuming you apply the screen protector properly — if
you’re not careful, you may end up with bubbles and cracks under your
screen protector and you may have to apply a new one.

So, When Do You Need a Screen Protector?

Some common materials can scratch Gorilla Glass. The biggest culprit
is sand — if you go to the beach and end up with some sand in your
pocket, that sand can rub against your smartphone’s glass screen and
scratch it. Hard rocks work similarly — if you drop your smartphone on
the ground and it skids along concrete or rocks, there’s a good chance
its display will be scratched (among other damage). Other types of
glass, rare metals, and very-hard materials like diamonds can also
scratch a Gorilla Glass screen.
So, if you spend a lot of time at the beach, you might want a screen protector anyway.
Screen protectors also boast anti-fingerprint coatings, but modern
smartphones have “oleophobic” coatings that repel the oil on your
fingers, reducing unsightly fingerprints. Even if you have fingerprints
building up, you just need to give the screen a quick wipe — ideally
with a microfiber cloth.
Screen protectors aren’t a must-buy item anymore. You can safely use a
modern smartphone with a “naked” screen, and — even if you put it in
the same pocket with your keys and coins — it should be fine. Of course,
you’ll probably want to keep your keys and coins in another pocket —
there’s a chance they could scratch some other part of your phone.

More about Corning’s Gorilla Glass

How it's made

FUSION PROCESS

Corning’s proprietary fusion manufacturing process is at the core of
our leadership in glass technology and the cover glass industry. This
extraordinarily precise, highly automated draw process produces a thin
sheet cover glass with pristine surface quality, outstanding optical
clarity and inherent dimensional stability – qualities essential for
cover glass for consumer applications.
The process begins when raw materials are blended into a glass
composition, which is melted and conditioned. The molten glass is fed
into a trough called an “isopipe,” overfilling until the glass flows
evenly over both sides. It then rejoins, or fuses, at the bottom, where
it is drawn down to form a continuous sheet of flat glass that is so
thin it is measured in microns. The glass is untouched by human hands or
anything else that will introduce flaws into the surface.
This same fusion process is at the heart of Corning’s
industry-leading LCD glass. The composition of Corning® Gorilla® Glass
enables a deep layer of chemical strengthening through an ion-exchange
process where individual glass parts are cut from the “mother sheet” and
undergo an ion-exchange process.

ION-EXCHANGE PROCESS

Ion exchange is a chemical strengthening process where large ions are
“stuffed” into the glass surface, creating a state of compression.
Gorilla Glass is specially designed to maximize this behavior. The glass
is placed in a hot bath of molten salt at a temperature of
approximately 400 degrees C. Smaller sodium ions leave the glass, and
larger potassium ions from the salt bath replace them. These large ions
take up more room and are pressed together when the glass cools,
producing a layer of compressive stress on the surface of the glass.
Gorilla Glass’ composition enables the potassium ions to diffuse far
into the surface, creating high compressive stress deep into the glass.
This layer of compression creates the surface that is more resistant to
damage.
Corning’s innovations don’t end on the manufacturing floor. One of
Corning's greatest strengths is our focus on developing the technology
behind the glass. Our research has delivered such life-changing
innovations as the glass envelope for Edison's light bulb, the glass
envelope for cathode ray picture tubes (CRTs) and liquid crystal
displays (LCDs), as well as the first low-loss optical fiber capable of
use in telecommunications. We continue to investigate new glass
compositions and process innovations at our three major research
facilities: Sullivan Park in Corning New York; Corning Technology Center
in Shizuoka Japan; Corning Research Center Taiwan in Hsinchu, Taiwan.
Scientists in these facilities work closely with the Gorilla Glass
commercial, engineering, and manufacturing staff to anticipate industry
trends and deliver new or improved glass technologies that add value to
customers’ products and processes. Through this ongoing process, Corning
Gorilla Glass continues to lead through glass technology innovation in
the fast-paced consumer electronics industry.